THEIR_VIRGIN_PRINCESS

by Shayla_Black_Lexi_Blake

  Tal shook his head. “No, Lea. At least for now, you won’t be alone. At least one of your guards must be with you, even in your locked rooms.”

  “That won’t be a problem, sheikh.” Dane stepped forward, his expression a bit grim as though he knew he was about to go into battle. “We’ll be moving into the princess’s suite this evening. She won’t ever be alone.”

  “Excellent,” Tal said, and there was no way to mask his sigh of relief. “I’ll call the contractors tomorrow. Her suite is too small for all four of you. We’ll start the expansion plans as soon as possible.”

  She was rapidly losing control. “No, Tal. They can’t move in with me.”

  The room got very quiet as both men turned to her. It was obvious she had their full attention.

  “Alea, where did you think we would stay?” Dane asked quietly, his voice icy cold. “Did you think we would go back to our own rooms? Just meet in the middle for a little rendezvous?”

  “Explain yourself, cousin. The way I heard it, you’ve settled your relationship with your men. Are you telling me you haven’t?” Tal asked.

  “They’re not moving in with me. It’s not a good idea.” She couldn’t quite meet Dane’s eyes.

  “Really? So yesterday in the shower was good-bye, was it, Lea?” Dane asked.

  “Could you be a little more discreet?” She couldn’t help how her face flushed.

  Dane towered over her. “Not a chance, and it’s going to get uglier. If you had wanted to keep this between the four of us, you shouldn’t have brought your cousin into it.”

  “He’s the head of my family.” And she was counting on the way things worked here in Bezakistan. They might be modern, but when it came right down to it, Tal made the decisions. If she could get him on her side, she would be home free and there was nothing any of the guys could do.

  Dane seemed to grow a couple of inches as he watched her, his whole body going into battle mode. “Is he? Let me tell you something, Alea, because I apparently wasn’t clear. I am the head of this family since you seem determined to go old school with this. I’ve been extremely patient so far, but you need to think about what you’re doing and stop. Nothing has changed. We’re together, and we will get through all of this together. As a family. Making decisions together. If you continue down the path I think you’re taking, you’re going to put me in a corner and you won’t like how I fight my way out of it.”

  Tal had stepped back, frowning as he watched them.

  She felt her anger starting to simmer. “Everything has changed, Dane. You know it. You can’t be so naïve as to think that anything is the same. You were in the hotel room when the press arrived. The island was just a little vacation, a dream. It’s time to wake up now.”

  His face opened up, pure surprise hitting him. “What are you talking about?”

  Dane wouldn’t understand. She knew exactly how this would go down if she tried to explain herself. He would never admit that this relationship wouldn’t work. He would force the issue, and they would all be torn up and miserable. “I don’t want to have a relationship with you in the real world.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about? The real world? Because the island felt pretty fucking real to me.”

  “It wasn’t. We had all been through something frightening, and we bonded over our shared survival. That was all it really meant,” she lied. “Dane, you couldn’t expect me to marry my guards.”

  Alea held in her tears. It had been everything to her. It had been the best time of her life. She would hold those memories to her heart forever.

  Dane stepped up, not respecting anything so civilized as personal space. “Shared survival? We’re just your guards? Yeah, that doesn’t fly with me, baby. There’s nothing on the books that states you have to marry another royal.”

  She steeled herself. God, she hated this. “I don’t want to marry anyone, but if I do, I will marry someone who’s lived in my world and understands it better.”

  “Like Piper understood this world when your cousins married her? She was a research assistant from Texas. She wasn’t royal and she definitely wasn’t rich. What the fuck is this really about, Alea?”

  How could she make him understand? “Did you see what happened with Lan? He’s going to get hurt. Do you know what’s going on back in America? They’re going after your families, Dane. We need to be realistic. We had a wonderful time. I will never forget it, but it can’t be more than a fling.”

  “Are you talking about all that sex, Alea? Is that the fling you mean? Should I remind you just how many ways we had you? And I don’t have that family anymore, Lea. I have you, Lan, and Coop, and we will get through this together.” He took a long breath. “Baby, calm down. I know being back here and being hounded by reporters is a shock.”

  It was more than a shock. Tears clouded her vision. She turned to Talib because talking to Dane would get her nowhere. “Would you please listen to me, cousin? I would like to make a formal request to have my security duty turned over to other guards. I will submit to any security detail you deem fit. I will cooperate with the investigators and I will live a quiet life that will bring no further scrutiny to our family.”

  The press’s accusations could hurt her cousins. They had kept everything so quiet, and now all the ugliness was out in the open. What would her people think? There would be some who would view her as sullied. Some parts of the country were still quite backwards.

  She turned back to Dane, her head held regally. “Dane, you have to understand that my cousin’s throne and our entire family is judged based on our actions. Any scandal hurts us. Our traditions might seem odd to the outside world, but in many ways our people are very conservative. The very fact that I was abused will make some people view me differently.”

  Tal ran a hand across his scalp, ruining his perfect hair. “Lea, you can’t think about them. They’re the mountain people. The citizens in our cities won’t see you differently. It’s one region of the country. Everyone knows they’re out of touch with modern ideals.”

  “But they’re not completely out of touch with the media. They will hear the story and they can cause trouble. It will be worse when they find out about my affair. If I cut it off now and go into seclusion, I can mitigate the damage to all of us.”

  “There won’t be damage if you make it legal,” Tal drawled. “I rather assumed there would be another wedding. Did you plan to live with my cousin, in my palace, without offering her your name, Dane?”

  “Of course not,” Dane shot back. “None of us would do that, and you know it. It has always been our plan to properly marry her with full Bezakistani rites. We talked about marriage on the island, in fact. We respect this family and would never do a damn thing to dishonor it.”

  “I can’t marry them.” She knew what Tal wanted, but couldn’t he see how wrong it was to bring the men she loved into their world, especially now when the press seemed intent on ripping her apart? “Tal, please try to understand. You would try to protect Piper.”

  A small smile crossed Tal’s face. “Piper is strong, Alea. And so are your men.”

  Dane tried to reach for her. “Lea, we don’t need protection.”

  Which just went to prove that he could be naïve. What if Brittany Hahn wasn’t the only one who had resented Alea’s “privileged” treatment? What if more women came out and accused her of cowardice or outright collusion? How could they build a family when she was covered in scandal? “I won’t marry anyone.”

  Dane proved he knew their customs way better than she’d given him credit for. “Your Highness, I would like to make a formal declaration of intent to marry your cousin. I meant to do this later and with proper pomp and circumstance, but she’s not giving me room for that.”

  A single eyebrow arched over Tal’s right eye. “Really? You want to put her in a corner like that?”

  Alea turned to Dane, her eyes widening. “You’re trying to force me to marry you?”

  According to strict law
, because she’d been formally adopted into the royal family and bore their name, she was actually considered to be Talib’s property. It was an old law, but still a valid one. Dane wasn’t asking her to marry him. He was petitioning Talib to force the marriage.

  “I believe I mentioned you wouldn’t like how I fought. And don’t think I’m alone in this. I have no doubt Landon and Cooper are ready to sign the paperwork, too. We’re not going to let your fear rip us apart.” He took a long breath and reached for her. “Lea, I don’t want to do it this way. Let’s go somewhere quiet and talk this out, you, me, Lan, and Coop. We’ll hash this out.”

  So calm. So reasonable. And he’d just threatened to treat her like property. “I am trying to do what’s right for all of us. You can’t think for a second that my cousin is going to force me to marry you.”

  “I will admit, I would prefer not to,” Tal commented.

  “But he will because I haven’t played my best card yet, baby. I’m begging you not to make me do this.” Dane spoke to him, but never took those predatory eyes off her.

  His best card? What the hell? Her blood was pounding through her body. She’d been treated like a sack of meat before, and she wasn’t about to let anyone curtail her freedom. She’d been willing to offer it up. She’d meant what she said to Tal. She was willing to hire another guard and to submit to all of their security protocols. She would do it because it helped her family and it protected her men, but she would be damned if Dane and Tal decided her fate.

  “Alea, what is this really about?” Tal asked, his voice softening marginally. “I don’t understand what’s going on here. This is between you and your men, truly, but you’ve forced me into this situation. I believe Dane when he says he doesn’t want to push the marriage rites on you, but I also think he will do it. Don’t put me in a position where I have to choose between my family and my very good friends. Tell me what’s going on.”

  “I won’t marry them. After this, I won’t even talk to them again.” The words sounded stupid and stubborn, but she couldn’t give in. They deserved good lives with someone less broken, with someone who wouldn’t always have a horde of reporters trailing after her, intent on ruining her life—and everyone around her.

  “Did you or did you not sleep with these men?” Tal asked, though she was certain he knew the answer.

  Alea knew immediately that her sweet cousin had left the building. This was the Royal Sheikh of Bezakistan addressing her as the head of her family, and she felt like she was five years old all over again.

  “I don’t see that it matters.”

  “It matters, cousin. I will not ask again.”

  She felt her fists clench. “This isn’t fair. It’s not like you, Rafe, and Kade were pure on your marriage bed. No one expected you to marry that first girl the three of you shared.”

  “This isn’t about us, cousin. This is about you. You gave your body and, I believe, your heart to Dane, and yet you will not do him the courtesy of talking to him. It is a disgrace and not worthy of the woman I know you to be.”

  “I guess you don’t know me as well as you thought.” It was nothing less than the truth, but her heart broke at the thought.

  Tal sighed, a weary sound. “Please, Lea. Don’t make me turn them out.”

  “It’s for the best.” God, she felt the burn of Dane’s furious stare all over her and wanted this to be over so she could lock herself in her rooms and scream and cry and start to mourn them.

  Tal turned to Dane. “I am sorry, old friend. I cannot force her to my will. This scandal will pass. The family will survive. The press will turn around when the new baby is born.”

  Dane had gone cold as ice, his whole body perfectly still. His voice was frigid. “Are you talking about your child, sheikh, or mine?”

  Alea felt like someone had punched her in the gut. She turned to Dane, her feet unsteady. Oh, god, she’d thought about it, but it was like a little whisper in the back of her mind. She’d known that she could become pregnant. How many weeks had gone by? She’d lost count. Time seemed to flow differently on the island, but now it was speeding up like a carnival ride. It was making her sick.

  Talib had gone an angry red. “My cousin is pregnant?”

  Alea shook her head. “No. I’m not.”

  Was she?

  Dane’s smile was that of a man who had just tossed down the winning hand when everyone had thought he was played out. “We were on the island for over a month. She never had her period.”

  Oh god. She hadn’t even thought of that until now.

  “Perhaps you didn’t notice,” Tal tried.

  “I was inside her every day, sheikh. I would have noticed. We didn’t use protection. She’s pregnant by one of us, but I assure you, we will all claim the child. We believed she loved us and had pure intentions. We always intended to marry her with full respect to her culture. I understand that you shouldn’t have been placed in this position, sheikh, but you should understand that I have no intention of allowing my child to grow up without his fathers. If you choose not to honor my rights as the man who impregnated her, then Cooper, Landon, and I will be forced to petition your courts to have our rights recognized. Since she was in a relationship with the three of us, according to your laws, we all have rights to the child.”

  Alea felt sick. She managed to stay on her feet.

  Tal was still talking, his voice rough. “If the doctors confirm a pregnancy, then the marriage will take place as soon as possible. We’ll keep it private, but afterward, we will announce the union to the press. In a few months, we’ll publicize the princess’s pregnancy.” Tal turned to her. “I have no choice. You were right about our people. We could handle an affair. The heat would be on us for a few months, but we would survive the scandal. We cannot handle a princess with an illegitimate child. This isn’t England or America where people just accept royalty and celebrities as human. If you don’t marry, they will blame me for not protecting my family. It will weaken my position. Did they rape you?”

  Honesty would be her death knell. Alea knew it. Yet she couldn’t lie. “Of course not.”

  “Then you made your bed, cousin, and you will lie in it. I know it’s not fair, but there are conservative factions in this country that would do anything to topple my throne and set us all back a thousand years. I cannot allow that to happen. In this, I must be the sheikh and not your cousin. I have to keep my throne stable for everyone in Bezakistan. You will marry them if you’re pregnant. I would offer to allow you to marry someone of your choice and pay off these men, but I have a feeling they cannot be bought.”

  “Not for anything, sheikh,” Dane confirmed, his face grim but resolute. “We will not back down and we are united in this.”

  “As brothers should be.” Tal reached out and shook Dane’s hand. “We’ll sit down and talk about all the details this evening after dinner. Alea, I’ll send the doctor up to you in a bit. You should rest until then.”

  “You can’t do this to me, Talib. You can’t do this to them.” Her voice sounded small and lost.

  “You chose to sleep with them, knowing how they felt. You chose to not use protection. And now you’re throwing a fit because there were consequences to your actions. I have to take charge because you’re acting like a child and not a woman about to become a mother. You’re still clinging to the pain and the guilt like they’re security blankets. I know because I did the same thing, but I cannot allow it now. I’m not stupid, Alea. I know your refusal has something to do with what happened to you, and I am so sorry it is being dragged up again, but your time to hide is over. You have to face what happened and decide if you are going to allow it to defeat you or if you will grow beyond it and move on. I love you, my cousin. I pray you can heal and embrace the future.” He walked away, pulling out his chair and sitting behind that big desk where his fathers once worked.

  “Tal?” She’d just lost something precious and she hadn’t meant to. Tears threatened.

  He didn’t bother to
look up. “You’re dismissed, Alea. I have to prepare for the meeting with the investigators and then I must start the paperwork for your marriage. It’s a matter of state, after all.”

  She felt tired. So weary. She’d been trying to protect them, but it had blown up in her face.

  Dane wouldn’t look at her. He kept his attention on Tal. “I will see you in the meeting, sheikh.”

  “Cousin, please. You’re family now, Dane. Address me as Tal or cousin as is your right and my privilege. Let Cooper and Landon know I expect the same from them.”

  Well, it was great that they were getting along. She felt more on the outside than she’d ever felt in her life.

  “Alea, we’ll see you in our room. I believe you’ll find one of Talib’s personal guards waiting outside to escort you. Obey him. And I wouldn’t attempt to lock us out if I were you. I will kick the door in. This wasn’t the way I wanted to start our marriage.” Dane walked away without looking back.

  Alea watched him go and then went to join her guard, her heart heavier than ever. She placed a hand on her belly. She could pretend all she liked, but she knew the truth. She could tell herself that she had been trying to protect them, but she’d really been protecting herself. It had been easy on the island because she didn’t have to deal with reality. She could simply be. No future. No past.

  But the future was knocking at her door, and she couldn’t lock it out.

  “I understand the impulse to push them away, Alea,” Tal said from his desk. “I really do. I thought it would be best to push Piper away. I thought I was too damaged for her, too dark. She was far smarter than I was. I wasn’t too dark for her. That broken part of me was no match for her love. Her love was far stronger than any torture I’d ever endured.”

  “You weren’t getting savaged by the press when you married Piper. Would you put her through this, Tal?”

  Her cousin’s eyes grew misty, and he took a long breath. “Yes. I wouldn’t have said it at the time, but now I know the truth. If you love those men, if you want to share a life with them, then you owe them the chance to stand by you. Would you walk out if one of them was in trouble this way?”